Phils have right pieces to get Halladay
Posted by mattsmith on 3:45pm, Tuesday July 7th 2009
Fresh off Monday’s 22-1 shellacking of the Reds, Tuesday brought more good news if you’re a Phillies fan:
Lou Marson is one of the Phillies' best prospects... but I wouldn't mind seeing him dealt as part of a package for Toronto ace Roy Halladay.
Roy Halladay is for sale.
Well, kinda.
As seen on NLEastChatter.com, the Blue Jays are willing to listen to offers for their Cy Young winner. So, what do the Phillies have to do to get Halladay, arguably the best pitcher in the game today?
The Blue Jays would want a lot back in the trade, obviously. In other words, they’ll require at least two stud prospects and probably — from what I’ve been reading and hearing — an established major leaguer.
Believe it or not, the Phillies have the pieces in their system to make this trade possible. They have pitchers (Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Drabek), five-tool talent (Dominic Brown, Michael Taylor) and other intriguing talent (Lou Marson, a catcher, and Jason Donald, an infielder).
I’d be willing to see the Phillies deal ANYof those aforementioned players EXCEPT Drabek, who is on a collision course with the majors as we speak.
If Roy Halladay is available, you do whatever is possible to get him. I’ve always said that the Phillies are NOT playing for the future. They have Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, all of whom are in their prime and will be at their absolute best for the next 2-4 years. THE TIME IS NOW!
If the Phillies can get two, three world titles during this successful run they’re on, 99 percent of sane Philly fans will accept a rebuilding period in… let’s just say… 5-6 years from now.
However, I think the Phils would have to let go of a cheap big leaguer… (no, Chris Coste or Eric Bruntlett would not suffice)…
Jayson Werth, J.A. Happ and Shane Victorino are all making chump change. Of the three, I’d be most willing to trade Werth. Victorino and Happ, in my opinion, are much more valuable….
Something tells me, though, that Toronto will not move Halladay by the July 31 trade deadline, which is a shame because it’s not like the Blue Jays will win in the AL East anytime soon. Halladay is being wasted in Toronto, through the 2010 season…
pull the trigger! the future is now…
I don’t know a lot about the Phils system. I believe you when you say they have the prospects to get the deal done, my question for you is: who replaces Werth, a plus defender and a 20/20 man (possibly 30/20 this year) in RF in your opinion, is it Mayberry?
Also, oddball question: why in your opinion does Werth hit so few doubles?
For this season, it would probably be some combination of Mayberry Jr./Matt Stairs/Greg Dobbs/Eric Bruntlett. I’d hate to see Werth go, who is proving to be a very good 20/20 guy, as you mentioned. He’s five-tool all the way around. But… I’m keeping in mind we have two top prospects who are outfielders in Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor. They could be major league ready by next season. Both, from what I understand, are of the Jayson Werth ilk.
If the Blue Jays want a major leaguer in return, no matter the position, it’d have to be Werth or Happ, who is having a tremendous rookie season. Shane Victorino, for what he brings, is just way more valuable than Werth. Finding a center fielder who can track down just about anything is much harder to find.
Good question about Werth’s lack of doubles. Hmm… he has 13 on the season and is batting .260 something. Jimmy Rollins has 19 and he’s been hovering around .215 all year.
I tend to believe when Werth lays into one, the ball leaves the yard. And his singles are usually your typical seeing-eye and one-handed, go-the-other-way type hits.
Thank you for sharing your insight. The Werth doubles thing really perplexes me because I operate on the general assumption that unless someone is a “renowned slugger” like Ryan Howard that they should hit more doubles than home runs, and I wouldn’t call Werth a slugger. In his career he has 79 doubles and 75 home runs, but as a Phillie it’s 40 doubles/50 homers. Strange. I wonder if it’s the ballpark, because typically Raul Ibanez has more doubles than homers, but not this year. Thanks again.
Well, bare in mind that Werth had an injury-plagued career before joining the Phillies. And prior to all the injures, the guy was a first-round pick for Baltimore back in 1998. He was always projected to be a stud before all those setbacks.
Pat Gillick took a chance on the guy and gave him an opportunity to revive his career. Once he got to Philly, he remained healthy and is proving to be a good everyday player.
As for Ibanez, I think the fact that he’s playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark and for a winning team really, really has helped him (BUT… he has hit better on the road than at home this year!). Here’s another guy that has always been a good player, but nobody knew about him because he played for some crappy Seattle teams.